Owney

Join the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum as we celebrate National Preservation Week! Founded in 2010 by the American Libraries Association, National Preservation Week (April 24-April 30) is dedicated to the preservation of our personal and shared collections, which aid us in our understanding of history, culture, and each other. With over 6 million objects, the National Postal Museum has among the largest collections within the Smithsonian Institution. Our trusty preservation team has preserved a wide range of artifacts – from stamps and covers to vehicles to Owney the Dog! – and kept them safe since the Postal Museum opened in 1993.

Our Collections Department at work in the lab

Cleaning a Long Life Vehicle in the Atrium

Preservation, also known as Preventative Conservation, refers to the practice of maintaining an artifact’s integrity by avoiding or minimizing further damage and deterioration. The main components of preservation are the proper handling, storage, and display of an artifact. The Conservators at the National Postal Museum determine whether an artifact is in need of physical treatment, which can entail repairs, enforcing structures, and reducing loss. The preservation specialists construct custom micro-environments for the objects in storage to mitigate the risk of deterioration. They also prepare and mount artifacts for both short term and long term exhibitions in a manner that is conducive to the well-being of the objects. Additionally, our preservation and collections staff utilize proper packing and shipping techniques for any artifacts on loan to other museums, or for those being transported to one of the Postal Museum’s four off-site storage facilities.

In keeping with National Preservation week, on Thursday, April 28th, 2016, between 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., National Postal Museum visitors are encouraged to bring in their own keepsakes for personalized conservation and preservation team. The Collections Department will also have on display several artifacts from deep within the National Postal Museum vault, and will share information about the care and keeping of these artifacts. Additionally, visitors will have the opportunity to play an interactive game identifying the top factors in a home that can contribute to the deterioration of keepsakes. Join us for the festivities, which promise to be both informative and fun!

Owney the Dog – who is about 130 years old (or 533 in dog years!) - gets touched up in 2011

Owney, the postal dog already famous for his travels across the United States set out on August 19, 1895 for a trip around the world. Owney left from the Tacoma, Washington port, sailing for China and Japan and through the Suez Canal before sailing back to New York City. He left New York by train and returned to Tacoma on December 29.* Unfortunately, any tags that may have been given to Owney on the international legs of that journey have not survived. The museum does have several tags that show the dog’s connection with the Tacoma area (including several from Seattle, but since Tacoma’s boosters sent Owney on his trip to draw attention to their town, not their larger neighbor; I’ll focus on the Tacoma area tags here).

In preparation for his around the world trip, some citizens from Pullyup, Washington (just to the south-east of Tacoma, and on the railway line Owney traveled), gave him this tag with their names on it. Those wishing Owney good luck with this tag were Mrs. R. H. Coffman, Glen C. Elvins, F.T.C. Myers, W.F. Adams, C.A. McLaughlin, Frank McAlpin, Herman Klaber, Thomas McNeff, and Charles Hood of nearby Puyallup, Washington. The tag is dated August 14, 1895.

Tacoma’s hotels made Owney feel at home from time to time. These tags come from Tacoma’s Hotel Fife a five-story hotel, built in 1888, and located on the northwest corner of 9th and Pacific. William H. Fife, the hotel’s owner, was born in Ontario, Canada. He was an important figure in the early days of Tacoma, building the first general store and acting as the city’s first postmaster (1874-1882) and became one of the city’s most prosperous citizens. The Fife was torn down in 1925.

After Owney returned to Tacoma from his world-wide journey, the city’s Poultry Association gave him a tag celebrating their upcoming meeting. Given Owney’s demonstrated fondness for chasing chickens, it is hard to imagine he would have behaved himself at a poultry show. Just two years earlier Owney had rewarded a California clerk’s hospitality by chasing the family’s chickens. By the time the clerk responded to the wild cackling and squawking in his yard, Owney was found with the “finest and largest fowl of the yard” in his mouth.

By Allison Wickens, Director of Education at the Postal Museum and Owney fan

“When you go traveling with Owney, you’re never in a lonely world.”

Just like these song lyrics promise, with the new Owney: Tales from the Rails e-book available today, you’ll never be far from Owney and his jingling tags. Owney’s story is now available online and in a free iPad app with narration and a soundtrack featuring country singer Trace Adkins. And once you hear this gem of a song, you’ll be humming along too!

Owney is joining the ranks of the beloved characters now telling their story via e-book. The adorable portrayal and animated illustrations invite readers to discover more about this globe-trotting dog. He crisscrossed the country in the 1890s riding on mail train cars and collecting tokens for his harness along the way. His story inspired the release of an Owney postage stamp last summer. The e-book continues the great series of materials featuring Owney made available in 2011, including an exhibit, curriculum guide, and an augmented reality app.

Never before has Owney’s story come to life in such a way—combining world-class animated illustration with standout narration and a soundtrack. The moving images and musical elements enrich the narration in ways a print book cannot. In playful color on over 60 pages, children read and hear the adventures of Owney. Narrated through contemporary eyes, the story is based on primary sources with a dash of imagination. I’m so proud that this book combines such heart and artistry with historical accuracy. Listen to the Owney song here, sung by Trace Adkins and written by Stephen Michael Schwartz.

I have always enjoyed introducing visitors to Owney when I give tours of the museum. Young and old; from near and far—they always look at me a little stunned to learn that this dog led such an adventurous life so many years ago. Now with the Tales from the Rails e-book, I can share Owney’s rich story with his friends and fans around the world. I read it with my friend five-year-old friend Ella this weekend to much enjoyment. I also gave her dog, Mr. Darcy, a chance to browse the story, but he seemed more interested in dreaming of his own adventures than reading about Owney’s. Perhaps it is a story better explored with the people in my life, rather than the dogs.

Owney, the postal dog, has been commemorated on a U.S. Postage stamp. On July 27th, the first-day-of-issue ceremony was held at the National Postal Museum. Owney and many of his tags are on display in the museum’s atrium.

July 2011 also marked the 100th anniversary of the Post Office Department’s transfer of the contents of its museum to the Smithsonian Institution. Among the objects transferred to the Smithsonian was the stuffed figure of Owney.

The museum keeps a permanent file for each donation or transfer of objects, called an accession file. The file for the 1911-12 transfer is identified with the unique accession number “52985.” Each item transferred through this accession is given an identifying index number. Owney’s full accession number is 52985.274. The original papers in the accession file identify Owney as item #42 in the section of “Portraits, Paintings, Photos, Mail Equipment and Miscellaneous Articles” (below). Owney is described as “the dog that travelled on postal cars (with postal clerks) all over the United States and made a trip around the world.” His catalog card describes him as a “stuffed dog.”

Owney Catalog Card

Looking through the “52985” accession file is almost as interesting as reading about Owney’s travels while he was alive. Owney continued to travel to expositions posthumously – most notably to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and to the Philadelphia Exposition of 1926. The accession file includes correspondence related to the Smithsonian’s loan of Owney to the Post Office Department for the purposes of exhibition at the 1926 Sesqui-Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The correspondence even includes the packing receipt shown below.

Owney certainly was a well traveled dog and from the accession record, we can trace his Smithsonian history from his transfer to the “National Museum” and initial display at the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries building until 1964 when he traveled across the National Mall to the new Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History), where he resided until he moved to his permanent home at the National Postal Museum in 1993. Owney’s traveling days are over, but we look forward to receiving more documentation about his life as a mascot of the Railway Mail Service and his history at the Smithsonian Institution.

For more information on Owney visit the museum's special Owney web page.

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum has announced the development and release of new curriculum and supporting materials based on the museum’s beloved “Owney the Dog.” The announcement took place at the recent Smithsonian Institution’s annual Teacher Night held this year at the National Museum of the American Indian with more than 4,000 teachers in attendance. The 60-page full-color curriculum guide features four different units that use the story of Owney the Dog to meet reading, writing, math, social studies, science and art standards. The lessons are designed to provide inspiring and meaningful interdisciplinary experiences in classrooms from kindergarten through third grade.

Owney was a scruffy mutt who became a regular fixture at the Albany, N.Y., post office in 1888. He loved the mail and began to ride with the mailbags on Railway Post Office train cars across the state and then the country. In 1895, Owney even made an around-the-world trip, traveling with mailbags on trains and steamships to Asia and across Europe. The RPO clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot, marking his travels by placing medals and tags from his stops on his collar. He has been preserved and is on display at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

The curriculum guide features four themed interdisciplinary units on mapping, autobiography, jobs and primary sources. Targeted towards second grade learning standards, these lessons combine to illustrate the life and legacy of Owney the Postal Dog. The curriculum is developed in tandem with Owney-themed technology tools, including an e-book and an augmented reality postage stamp. Also accompanying the curriculum are worksheets, rubrics and companion lessons for students with special education needs.

“Owney stands iconic at the Postal Museum because he is such an engaging entry point to U.S. history” said K. Allison Wickens, director of education at the museum. “In this curriculum, we linked his adventurous story to a myriad of elementary school topics to better serve teachers in the areas of social studies, reading, math, writing, science and the arts. Many teachers have already discovered his powerful presence in their classrooms and with their guidance, we are confident these new lessons will find a place in many more.”

“Kids connect with Owney because dogs are still around nowadays, whereas other aspects of history have changed and advanced over the years—they ‘get’ him,” said Alexandra Roosenburg, learning and technology coordinator for the Primary Campus/Washington International School. “Having a mascot like Owney for the students to interact and identify with when learning about U.S. history and geography makes learning more fun, and thereby worth their while!”

A special online microsite has been created for the Owney curriculum (www.npm.si.edu/owneycurriculum) and resides on the museum’s main website. The site features a downloadable curriculum guide for teachers, which includes units on maps, jobs, tags and stories. Worksheets, rubrics and other resources are also available on the site.

The museum makes other teacher resources available on the museum’s recently redesigned website for educators at www.npm.si.edu/educators.

More than 70 dogs across the country lounged on mailbags, dressed up in letter carrier uniforms, and posed by mailboxes, competing to be Owney the Dog’s modern-day look-alike. The nationwide contest, co-sponsored by the Washington Humane Society, searched for a dog that captured Owney’s adventurous and travel loving spirit.

We were amazed at the creativity of the entries and relieved that we didn’t have to choose the winner on our own! Over 8,000 votes from the public were cast selecting three dogs that most embody Owney’s spirit.

We’re pleased to announce the winners:

First Place, Bentley

Fremont, California

Bentley, a dog that somehow became homeless just like Owney, previously won a local Owney look-alike contest in California. His owner says Bentley arrived dressed in tags and “must have caught Owney’s spirit, because he climbed right up the steps of the railway postal car and settled down comfortably on and near the mail bags.”

Second Place, Jordy

Arlington, Virginia

Jordy is also a rescue dog and like Owney loves to travel. Jordy’s owners say that he loves going on family vacations and is a very loyal friend.

Third Place, Murphy

Athens, Ohio

Murphy, is a mutt like Owney and was rescued from the pound. He also shares Owney’s adventurous and friendly spirit. His owner says that Murphy makes friends will all the dogs at the park and that when they travel he “fearlessly takes the position as co-pilot and navigator.”

In addition to a prize package all three dogs will have their photo displayed next to Owney in the Postal Museum for two weeks. Stop by and visit Owney and these modern day look-alikes!

As a Postal Museum follower, you may already be aware of Owney the dog and his notable relationship with the postal clerks of the late 1880’s. In case you aren’t, it is important to know that he spent most of his time riding trains and sleeping on mailbags, he was considered a good luck charm for the Postal Service workers, and he was given tags and medals to record his travels almost everywhere he went. Owney and more than 400 of his tags now inhabit the National Postal Museum, and 2011 brought both conservation treatments and completely updated photographic documentation for the entire Owney collection.

Owney wearing his tags.

In this post, I will share my experience with the Owney project from the perspective of a digital imaging technician, which involved photographing each of his 400+ tags. Photography of the Owney tags was important to the collection because it created online access to high resolution images of the tags for museum followers, researchers, educators, cachet makers, and anyone else interested in studying Owney’s story. This new access is part of a Smithsonian-wide priority to broaden access to the Institution’s expansive collections.

While taxidermist and sculptor, Paul Rhymer, was treating Owney himself, Postal Museum technician, Rebecca Johnson, and contracting object conservator, Cathy Valentour, worked together to clean and treat each of Owney’s tags. As the tag treatments were completed, I worked with Rebecca to coordinate the move of each of the tags in groups of about 30 to the museum’s photography studio. The tags are stored separately in boxes that note their accession numbers and help museum staff keep track of the tag’s history and role in Owney’s story.

Owney tag storage.

I constructed a light-diffusing miniature portrait studio for the tags, using a table, a light tent, two external lamps, and a camera stand. As shown in the image below, I used one light on either side of the light tent and positioned the camera, suited with a macro lens, above the tent on the sturdy camera stand to allow for the sharpest images possible. This was particularly important given the tiny dimensions of some of the tags and the remarkable details present in many of them. I took images of the front and back of each tag on a white background, black background, and with a color bar for after treatment record shots.

Digital Imaging Technician, Allie Hasson, in the photo studio.

As I moved through each set of tags, I was surprised at both the variety of materials from which the tags are made as well as the volume. (400 tags is a lot for a medium-sized dog, though he didn’t wear them all at once.) The tags are composed of an assortment of metals, including silver, aluminum, nickel, chrome, and many brass tags, as well as about a dozen very fragile and curiously large leather tags. The wide range of metal surfaces proved a challenge as I began this project, as many of them created a glare, or in severe cases a reflection of the camera and of me, when being photographed. This made using the light-diffusing tent imperative. I also experimented with the set up, aiming the lights at different trajectories as well as using small reflectors inside the light tent to minimize glare. To avoid abrading the leather or exposing the metal to skin oils that can smudge and/or cause deterioration, I used blue nitrile gloves (pictured below) to move the tags from their trays to the light tent.

Once the tags were all imaged, I processed the files in Photoshop to rotate and crop them using our imaging standards in preparation for their long term storage in our digital database as well as their appearance on Arago. Each tag is now accessible in high resolution on Arago for anyone interested in studying them. To find out if Owney visited your town and what he might have taken with him as a souvenir, visit Owney’s page on Arago.

If the answer to one of those questions is yes, then he/she has a lot in common with Owney, the railway mail mascot and most famous dog of the 1890's. There's even a chance your dog could share in a little bit of Owney's fame.

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿How? Enter your dog in the Owney Look-Alike Contest for the chance to win some amazing prizes and have his/her photo hang next to the real Owney in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. In partnership with the Washington Humane Society, and in celebration of Owney's recent makeover, new exhibit and U.S. postage stamp, we're searching for three modern day dogs that most resemble our favorite historic mutt.

﻿﻿﻿Pit﻿t Bulls May ApplyDon’t worry if your dog doesn’t physically resemble Owney, that’s just one of the qualities we’re looking for. We’re also seeking dogs that embody what we like to call the “Owney spirit.” Your dog could qualify if he’s adventurous, loves to travel, makes friends wherever he goes or was adopted like Owney was by the railway mail clerks. Or maybe your dog has a job like Owney did, helping the clerks protect and deliver the mail.

Owney on the job guarding the mail train.

How to EnterBrowse photos and stories of Owney’s adventures for ideas on how to capture your dog’s best Owney impression. Write a few words telling us why you think he/she resembles Owney and submit it along with the photo via the contest tab on our Facebook page. When submissions end at midnight on September 15th, we’ll turn it over to the public to vote for the winner.

The Prizes

The photo receiving the most votes by October 17th will be the grand prize winner. The grand prize includes:

16GB iPad2

The new interactive e-book, Owney: Tails on the Rails

Two runners up and the grand prize winner will receive:

Owney plush toy

Autographed copy of the children’s book, A Lucky Dog: Owney U.S. Railway Mascot

Uncut press sheet of Owney’s U.S. postage stamp

In addition, the three winner’s photos will be displayed next to the real Owney the dog in the National Postal Museum for two weeks.

On the left is Owney before his makeover. On the right, Owney’s official “post-makeover” photo.

You’ll spot some major differences in Owney’s appearance in the “after” photo. Below are the major steps of Owney’s head-to-tail makeover, which was completed by Paul Rhymer, a sculptor and former taxidermist of the National Museum of Natural History.

Owney is furry again

On the left, Owney gets rinsed. On the right, his fur immediately fluffs up.

One of the most dramatic differences in the rejuvenated Owney is the fluffiness of his fur. Originally taxidermied in 1897, Owney had been carrying around a lot of dust. Past attempts to touch him up and improve his appearance had left wax, paint, and fur patches. One of the first steps Rhymer took once Owney arrived at his studio was to give Owney a bath.Washing started with a solvent to remove the paint used many years ago to restore his faded hair, and then with water and shampoo to make his hair nice and fluffy. Traces of arsenic that had been used as a preservative were also removed. Additional paint removal was done with a toothbrush. The cleaner, non-toxic Owney was dried and his fur quickly fluffed up.

His face has more personality On the left, Owney's pre-makeover face. On the right, Owney mid-facelift.

Historic photographs reveal that Owney had a fairly prominent, boxy snout and an expressive forehead. Rhymer worked to bring back some of that structure and expression by giving Owney a “facelift.” While his hair was washed the skin was softened enough to help correct the shape of his face. Newer, more accurate eyes were installed. A more accurate cast dog nose was used to replace his, giving it a softer, more natural look compared to the old shriveled up one. Finally some of the missing hair was replaced to return his soft look.

His jacket is gone

On the left, this historic photo of Owney shows him wearing a leather harness but no jacket.On the right, Owney’s fur, now fit for exhibition, is again visible with the removal of his jacket.

When Owney’s collar became weighed down by metal tokens and tags, Postmaster General John Wanamaker gave him a leather harness to display them and distribute their weight. The harness was the extent of Wanamaker’s gift to Owney, but somewhere along the way he also acquired a jacket. The jacket he wore was probably a gift of the Smithsonian Institution in the 1950s or 1960s, perhaps designed to mask fur loss on his back. Patching and dying have corrected many of these problem areas. While many visitors were accustomed to Owney’s fashionable jacket, the team behind the Owney project decided to remove it to be more true to his original appearance. Don’t worry, the jacket, itself a piece of history, will remain in the museum’s permanent collection as we continue to learn more about Owney’s story both in his traveling days and at the Smithsonian.

Owney’s tags look terrific On the left, Owney's fur looks fine without a jacket. On the right, a newly polished tag.

Owney’s tags and tokens also got a polish. Preservation Technician Rebecca Johnson and Conservator Cathy Valentor cleaned each one using a variety of methods based on the tags’ cleaning needs and its material, some examples are mineral spirits and calcium carbonate, but all tags were polished using a micro-crystalline wax. The process took about five months.

Owney’s tags will not only have more polish, they’ll also be more visible. Owney will wear about 90 tags, less than the 123 he wore for many years on exhibit, making them more readable. Owney’s social media fans recently voted on which tag should receive a prime location on his harness. The spoon-shaped tag won and was added to Owney’s harness.﻿﻿﻿

In addition to being featured in the new exhibit, all of Owney's tags (377 in total) are now available online!

﻿It’s all in the details

Taking a closer look, you may spot some smaller details that are different. Owney’s tail, for example, is much fuller and fluffier, thanks to some fur patches and a good rinse. His paws are arranged more naturally (and by the way, most of those nails are the real thing).

Owney’s makeover adds extra fun to the celebration of his stamp issue and new exhibits this year, but it also means Owney will remain in great condition for years to come.

Taxidermist Paul Rhymer works on improving Owney’s appearance. On his work surface, you can see a historic photograph of Owney as reference.

Now that Owney is looking his best, join us to celebrate his new postage stamp, exhibitions, and four-day festival! Stay tuned for updates on Owney's teacher resources and other news. You can follow Owney on Facebook and Twitter for news and fun facts.

As you may have heard, on July 27, 2011, Owney will be honored with his very own postage stamp. To celebrate this great occasion, this is the fourth in a series of blogs celebrating some of Owney’s tags.

Owney, the most famous dog of his day, was famous foremost for traveling. So it should be no surprise that among those who honored the dog with a tag were gentlemen from another well traveled group – Michigan’s “Knights of the Grip.” This organization of traveling salesmen recognized their fellow wanderer with this distinctive token. The tag’s shape and design represented the association’s symbol.

It is not known if Owney ever applied for an official membership from the organization, which required its members be employed for at least a year as a traveling man, in good health, “not afflicted with any chronic disease, and not addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, residing or traveling in the State of Michigan, who is actively engaged in selling goods at wholesale, adjusting insurance or as superintendent of agencies.” Annual dues were set at $1.00.